Hydroinformatics - Modelling and Information Systems for Water Management

You will be able to solve problems of hydraulics, hydrology and environmental engineering for better water management using simulation modelling and IT. You will also get acquainted with models applied to water-based systems, learn to design and integrate decision support systems, and develop skills to provide expert advice to managers and users of advanced tools.

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What is Delft based

This programme will run entirely at UNESCO-IHE in Delft, the Netherlands

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Delft based, IHE Delft, The Netherlands18 months , starts in October

For whom?

Hydroinformatics engineers participate in defining, building and supplying the tools that enable decision-makers to manage aquatic resources and the environment. They work with engineers, scientists and people from other interest groups. This specialization is designed for hydraulic, environmental and water resources engineers from universities, consulting firms, research institutes, water boards and other government agencies. The typical participant uses or advises others in the use of mathematical models and hydroinformatics systems for planning, designing or managing the aquatic environment.

Structure & contents

This specialization consists of 14 modules covering a total of 12 months, this is followed by a 6-month research and thesis phase. Graduates of the programme will be awarded 106 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits.

October - April

IHE Delft, The Netherlands

Introduction to Water for DevelopmentRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Reflect critically on water related interventions, formulate own standpoint and engage constructively in debates

Place the specialized knowledge on own discipline into a broader understanding of water related issues, challenges, debates and developments

Recognize and distinguish different ways of knowing and framing water questions and problems in order to appraise water challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective

Familiarize with the educational environment and procedures of IHE Delft and collaborate in multidisciplinary and intercultural teams

Introduction to Water Science and EngineeringRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Understand the field of water science and engineering, identify its different specialisations and understand the structure of the programme at IHE

Apply mathematical, statistical and frequency analysis concepts and techniques relevant to water science and engineering

Describe geologic, geomorpholgical and anthropogenic processes at the surface of the Earth that form and sculpt landscapes

Explain how to use different types of literature in scientific work in an ethical manner

Hydrology and HydraulicsRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Describe the main concepts of steady/unsteady and uniform/non-uniform flow.

Describe the principles and basic equations of water flow and to apply them to various practical situations.

Explain the concepts of Geographical Information Systems and apply them in practical examples relevant to their specialization.

Describe the main techniques of remote sensing and know when their use is appropriate or inappropriate.

Carry out basic measurements in the wave and current flumes at the hydraulic laboratory.

Describe and apply the concepts of hydrology needed for their specialisation.

Information Technology and Software EngineeringRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Select and apply software tools to increase productivity

Develop computer code for general and water-related problems, applying the main principles of software engineering and computer programming

Explain and apply the main operation principles of computers, networks and Internet

Describe the Python environment, explain its working philosophy and use it to perform basic operations and plots

Modelling Theory and Computational HydraulicsRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Identify differential equations, as well as indicating the nature of the initial and boundary conditions for well posed problems.

Explain the structure of the 1D, 2D and 3D flow equations as representations of conservation laws and know when to use the full dynamic equations and their approximations

Analyse a numerical scheme and indicate its behaviour, as well as implement different numerical schemes for solution of equations used in water related problems.

Implement finite difference schemes to solve differential equations.

Understand and explain the foundations of mathematical modelling, its relationship to systems and control theory, main modelling paradigms, selecting modelling software

Understand and use main principles and methods of analysing and predicting models uncertainty; be able to develop computer code for analysing uncertainty of a hydrological model

Modelling and Information Systems DevelopmentRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Understand the process of river model building: data analysis, model calibration and verification.

Use advanced GIS procedures and tools related to aquatic systems

Specify, design and build a prototype modelling system with a graphical user interface

Develop a computer code for calculating free-surface flow in canals and provide interpretation of a series of tests involving various initial and boundary conditions

Computational Intelligence and Operational Water ManagementRequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

Understand and apply the principles and techniques of real-time control, and anticipatory water management

Understand the principles and techniques of optimisation, and formulate and solve optimisation problems related to modelling and water management

Provide a diagnosis of the main challenges and interlinkages between those challenges for the case study area.

Develop a shared strategy to answer the challenges based on a coherent programme of measures.

Organize an integrated team including a division of roles, individual and shared responsibilities, a transparent decision-making process, and a monitoring and evaluating procedure of the produced outputs and deliverables

Thesis Research Proposal Development for WSERequired

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

demonstrate analytical problem-analysis skills and the ability to distil the strategic issues to be addressed in the research phase

plan, using the project management approach, the research process in weekly time-steps and indicate essential milestones, targets and indicators, required human, financial and other resources, deliverables and perceived threats and constraints at eac

develop and formulate the research proposal in a clearly written, well argued and convincing report, submitted within a set deadline

list available literature and replicate main arguments expounded in the literature on the specified research topic

successfully present and defend individual work, cross-reference it to and critically evaluate it in light of contemporary thinking in a specific field of study

concisely define the intended research topic, state precise aims and objectives, describe the research methodology, argue expected relevance and justification, and identify boundary conditions and self- or externally imposed limitations

Formulate well-founded conclusions and recommendations based on a comprehensive discussion of the results.

Conduct research, independently or in a multidisciplinary team by selecting and applying appropriate research methodologies and techniques, collecting and analysing data.

Communicate, debate and defend, clearly and systematically, findings and generated insights, and provide rational underpinning of these in oral and written presentations to a variety of audiences.

Formulate research questions and hypotheses

Explore the background of the research problem by critically reviewing scientific literature; Evaluate relevant theories and applying these theories to a relevant scientific problem; Assure adequate delineation and definition of the research topic

Orange Knowledge Programme

The Orange Knowledge Programme is a €195-m Dutch global development programme, available in 53 developing countries and managed by Nuffic, a Dutch non-profit organisation for internationalisation in education. Launched mid-2017, it aims to have provided tens of thousands with the possibility to change their future through education and training by mid-2022.

Rotary Scholarship for Water and Sanitation Professionals

The strategic partnership between The Rotary Foundation (TRF) and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education aims to tackle the world’s water and sanitation crisis by increasing the number of trained professionals to devise, plan, and implement solutions in developing and emerging countries. Through this partnership, a limited number of scholarships are awarded annually for graduate students at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education’s campus in the Netherlands. These scholarships are designed to promote long-term productive relationships between Rotarians and highly skilled water and sanitation professionals in their communities.

WMO Fellowships

WMO is partnering with IHE Delft to jointly support two to three fellowships a year from developing and least developed countries to undertake an MSc in one of the agreed IHE Delft programmes.

To be considered for a fellowship for the academic year 2020-2022 under WMO / IHE Delft joint funding applicants must:

have unconditional admission to one of the following IHE Delft MSc programmes: Hydrology and Water Resources; Hydraulic Engineering and River Basin Development; Land and Water Development for Food Security; Hydroinformatics - Modelling and Information Systems for Water Management; Coastal Engineering and Port Development; Water Management and Governance

complete and submit a WMO Fellowship Nomination Form (FNF) to WMO by 1 March. The FNF MUST be submitted through, and approved by, the Permanent Representative (PR) of your country with WMO. You will find the contact of your country’s Permanent Representative in the WMO Country Profile Database: https://www.wmo.int/cpdb/. WMO can only consider your request for fellowship if your application is formally presented through the officially designated Permanent Representative of your Government with the Organization. This is usually the Director of National Meteorological and Hydrometeorological Service(s). Please note that the PR may give preference to personnel from the National Meteorological Service or National Hydrological Service of their country. The WMO Fellowship Nomination Forms (FNF) are available here.

be medically fit (see WMO FNF for details).

For WMO to consider the fellowship nomination all of the above conditions must be met. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified through the PR of their country by the end of July 2020. For further information email: detr@wmo.int.

Application & Admission

Admission requirements

Academic admission to IHE Delft MSc Programmes may be granted to applicants who provide evidence of having:

A university level Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate field, which has been awarded by a university of recognised standing, comparable in level with a Bachelor degree from a research university in the Netherlands.

A good command of the English language, if this is not the first language. All non-native English-speaking applicants must satisfy the English language requirements for IHE Delft's educational programmes.

A strong motivation to successfully complete the programme.

Several years of professional experience in an area of work related to the specialisation is an asset.

Application procedure

For admission to the programme please complete the online application, the link to the application section of our website is available at the top of this page.

You need to submit the following documents:

Certified copies of degrees/diplomas.

Certified copies of academic transcripts. Authenticated or certified copies are copies with an official stamp to verify that the copies are true copies of original documents. This official stamp may be from one of the following: a solicitor/notary, the educational institution from where the student gained the diplomas or the local council/local authority/local government office.

Two reference letters, preferably one from a person that can judge students' professional abilities and one from a person that can judge his/her academic abilities. One recommendation letter has to come from the current employer (if available) and another one from the university the student graduated from. Letters have to have an official letterhead and need to be signed.

Please note all documents are required to be in English, or officially translated into English.

One cannot apply for more than one programme per academic year, unless there is a period of at least 3 months between the starting dates of the programmes of interest. If a student applies for an Erasmus Mundus programme for which Erasmus Mundus fellowships are available, he/she can also apply for another programme. If the other programme is also an Erasmus Mundus programme, the applicant can submit up to 3 applications.

More information

Further questions about the application procedure can be addressed to:

Countries with limited economic resources need solutions to water-related problems to be cost-effective and make use of hydroinformatic tools. The knowledge I am gaining will allow me to contribute to solving these issues.''

My view on water as an engineer has been reshaped, I now realize that there are more similarities regarding our water issues than we think but also that there are water issues that I never consider living in the tropics.''